How to get started with Microsoft Recall as an end-user
- Amanda Sterner
- May 5
- 5 min read
Hi welcome to my series on how to start loving Windows 11 now that it's time for Windows 10 to say bye 👋🏻. Until 14th of October I will explore Windows 11 features and functionality 💗.
Table of content 💖
In the second blog post in my series on how to fall in love with Windows 11 I want to talk about 💙 Microsoft Recall 💙 and how you as an end-user can tailor it to your needs. My computer is managed by my company, meaning my IT admin have to do a few things before I, as an end-user, can get started. Microsoft Recall is an AI-powered tool in Windows 11 Copilot+ PC that allows you to revisit the past with the help of taking snapshots of your screen which you after can semantically search on or just simply scroll through at a timeline 🔮. Some of the perks I see with Recall are how it makes it easier for me to find information relevant for my work, how it enhances collaboration as I can share the result with colleagues and ofc how nicely it's integrated into Microsoft 365 and Windows 11.
After being in Windows Insider for a long-time recall is finally out in preview ready to test!
Before we talk about the how and what let's get back a few steps because there's been some controversy.
😱 My computer recording EVERYTHING I do, even seeing my bank account, secret conversations and passwords?!
Well, yes it does, but there are things to calm your nerves and feel as protected as you are:
🔒 It's opt in, meaning you will have to turn it on
🔒 Your IT admin can exclude sensitive sites, and so can you
🔒 You can pause it whenever you want
🔒 You can decide how long snapshots are being saved, and delete them whenever
🔒 You can only access it through logging in with Windows Hello enhanced security sign-in
Ok, I hope you feel more relaxed now 😉. Let's have a look at what we can do with Recall!
If you want to read more about the technical limitations and what you as admin must do to manage Recall, I recommend this Microsoft Learn article: Manage Recall for Windows clients | Microsoft Learn.
Before we get started
Your IT admin needs to make sure you can take snapshots of your computer, and they also have to enable Recall, your IT admin can also add websites and apps that should be excluded from Recall. And this time it's not enough with Windows 11, we also need a Copilot+ PC. Once we have that in place, we can get started!
Step 1 - Enable
To enable Recall open the settings, under Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots and make sure Save snapshots are set to on.
Step 2 - Adjust your settings
Then let's have a look at the settings, some settings I recommend you to have a look at are:
Setting a maximum storage limit and how long the snapshots should be saved. I prefer unlimited and deleting afterwards instead
Make sure filter on sensitive information is turned on, this should filter out the most sensitive information
But to be really sure add specific apps and websites to be filtered away, please can I look at clothes or Facebook without being snaped 😋?! The really nice thing is that your IT admin can add apps and websites they think should be excluded
Time to go wild
The settings are fixed, let's get this party started! First we need to make sure we have turned it into on, there are two ways to turn Recall on:
In your task bar
In the task bar there is an indicator whether Recall is taking snapshots or not, if the Recall icon has a dash in it - it does not take snapshot.
By clicking on the recall logo you can:
Paus or resume taking snapshots
Add a site or app to the filter list
Go to the settings
Open the full app
In the app
You open the app either by going through the tasks bar shortcut, searching for Recall or the shortcut WIN + J. In the top right corner under ... you will find the possibility to resume taking snapshots.
It's on now what?
Everything is ready, let's see what we can do in the app! And don't forget that whenever you've closed the app for a longer time you will need to authenticate again.
Searching
With the help of semantic search we can ask our question like a human and get a real good answer. Examples on search phrases I used with Recall:
What have I done with agents
Posters for the conference I'm planning
The results are divided into visual matches and text matches based on the match, sometime it's exact and sometimes it's a happy guess with the help of AI. You can also easily filter from what source the result should be from, for example only result from Microsoft Teams or PowerPoint. If you stumble upon sensitive information, you can quickly delete all snapshots related to one search.
Click on the snapshot to get the full options to interact with it.
Timeline
If you want to scroll through your timeline, maybe you don't know what you are looking for or maybe you want to get an idea of what you've been up to the timeline is for you. Scroll through your timeline and see everything.
Click on the snapshot to get the full options to interact with it.
On the snapshot
The first thing you will see is where in time your snapshot is from on the timeline, this will help you being able to see what you did before and after.
Under the snapshot you will
Get the option to open the shown app, file or website natively in the app/website to continue the work there
Use Click to do, with a click you can interact with the content in different ways such as copy pasting the text, do a visual search on the image, search the web for the information. If the text/picture in the snapshot is actionable it will get like a purple blueisch shimmer
Copy the snapshot
Delete the snapshot
Edit the snapshot with snipping tool
A bunch of different relevant options to continue working with the snapshot, I like to see it as either I'm continuing the work by myself or I'm continuing with a peer in different ways such as sending a link to website, finding a file to share or annotating on a snapshot before I send it as a picture.
My thoughts?
I enjoy how Recall can help me finding information when I don't know when, where, what or who 🤠. Being able to scroll through time or simply search is very helpful! I look forward to a future where I don't need to remember where I put my things, now I just need the same thing at home!
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Others posts in my Windows 11 series:
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